View source for Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet

{{Short description|British politician (1772–1828)}}
{{Other uses|William Congreve (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
[[File:Sir William Congreve, 2nd Bt by James Lonsdale.jpg|thumb|A portrait of Congreve by [[James Lonsdale (painter)|James Londale]] made {{circa|1812}}]]

'''Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet''' [[Royal Guelphic Order|KCH]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (20 May 1772 – 16 May 1828) was a [[British Army]] officer, [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] politician, publisher and inventor.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Aviation |first=David W. |last=Wragg |isbn=9780850451634 |edition=1st |publisher=Osprey |year=1973 |page=97}}</ref> A pioneer in the field of [[rocket artillery]], he was renowned for his development and use of [[Congreve rocket]]s during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=William |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/28396 |title=Memoirs of the distinguished men of science of Great Britain living in the years 1807–8, and appendix |date=1864 |publisher=E. & F.N. Spon |edition=2nd |location=London |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.28396}}</ref> His adaptation of [[Mysorean rockets|Mysorean rocket]] technology from the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] represented a crucial development in the history of military rocketry, bridging Eastern innovation with Western industrial production and establishing rocket artillery as a practical weapon system that would influence military technology into the space age.

==Biography==
[[File:Portrait of Captain William Congreve with his Son William.jpg|thumb|Young William Congreve (aged 10) with his father Captain William Congreve, by Philip Reinagle, c.1782. The elder Congreve leans against an eight-pounder cannon, reflecting his artillery expertise.]]

He was the eldest son of Rebeca Elmston and [[Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet|Lt. General Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet]], the Comptroller of the Royal Laboratories at the [[Royal Arsenal]] and raised in [[Kent]], [[England]]. In 1782, aged 10, he appeared alongside his father in a portrait by Philip Reinagle, commissioned whilst the family resided at Eastcombe House in [[Charlton, London|Charlton]]. This painting is now in the [[National Gallery of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Portrait of Captain William Congreve with his Son William |url=http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery.ie/objects/14604/portrait-of-captain-william-congreve-with-his-son-william |website=National Gallery of Ireland |access-date=26 August 2025}}</ref> He was educated at [[Newcome's school]] in Hackney, [[Wolverhampton Grammar School]] and Singlewell School in Kent. He then studied law at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], graduating BA in 1793 and MA in 1796.<ref>Venn recorded these educational details for a William Congreve, but without identifying him with his "illustrious contemporary namesake", the inventor. {{acad|id=CNGV788W|name=Congreve, William}}</ref> 

===Career at Woolwich and the 1814 celebrations===
[[File:The Revolving Temple of Concord.jpg|thumb|The Revolving Temple of Concord illuminated in St James's Park, erected for the peace celebrations of 1814 which Congreve masterminded]]
In 1814 he succeeded his father as second Baronet Congreve, and also to all his father's appointments, including Commandant of the Royal Military Repository and Superintendent of Military Machines at Woolwich.<ref name="Cole55">{{cite report|url=http://www.waterlooassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Woolwich-Rotunda-Research-Report-FIN-small-pdf.pdf|title=The Rotunda (former Royal Artillery Museum), Woolwich Common, London Borough of Greenwich: History, Structure and Landscape|author1=Emily Cole|author2=Susan Skedd|author3=Jonathan Clarke|author4=Sarah Newsome|publisher=Historic England|id=251-2020|date=2020|page=55}}</ref> 

Congreve had been "closely involved in the series of celebratory events marking the peace of 1814 and had masterminded the Grand National Jubilee on 1 August of that year."<ref name="Cole55"/> These celebrations marked the centenary of the [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian succession]] and the defeat of [[Napoleon]].<ref name="Cole55"/> The Prince Regent commissioned architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] to design a temporary structure in [[St James's Park]] for the festivities, which included an elaborate canvas tent pavilion—the structure that would later become the [[Rotunda, Woolwich|Rotunda]].<ref name="Cole55"/> Congreve organised spectacular firework displays for these peace celebrations, demonstrating both his pyrotechnic expertise and his skill in managing large-scale public events.<ref name="Cole55"/>

When the Prince Regent ordered the dismantling of the Rotunda from Carlton House in 1818, Congreve successfully petitioned for it to be re-erected at the Royal Military Repository at Woolwich, requesting on 7 December 1818 that the building be erected "on the brow of the Hill at the eastern boundary of the Repository Grounds, that spot being the most convenient as well as the most picturesque situation for it."<ref name="Cole56">Cole et al. 2020, p. 56</ref> In this role, Congreve was thus instrumental in securing the Rotunda for use as a museum, where it would house military trophies and serve as a monument to British military achievement.<ref name="Cole56"/> Congreve later organised the firework displays for the coronation of George IV in 1821.<ref name=odnb1>{{cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 12|year=2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=941|isbn=0-19-861362-8}}Article by Roger T. Stearn.</ref>

===Early military and political career===
In 1803, he was a volunteer in the [[Westminster Dragoons|London and Westminster Light Horse]], and was a London businessman who published a polemical newspaper, the ''Royal Standard and Political Register'', which was [[Tory]], pro-government and anti-[[William Cobbett|Cobbett]]. Following a damaging libel action against it in 1804, Congreve withdrew from publishing and applied himself to inventing. Many years previously, several unsuccessful experiments had been made at the Royal Laboratory in Woolwich by Lt. General [[Thomas Desaguliers]]. In 1804, at his own expense, he began experimenting with rockets at Woolwich.<ref name=odnb1/> Congreve was named as comptroller of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich from 1814 until his death. (Congreve's father had also held the same post.)

Congreve was awarded the honorary rank of [[lieutenant colonel]] in the [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanoverian]] army's artillery in 1811, and was often referred to as "Colonel Congreve", later made [[major general]] in the same army.<ref name=odnb1 /> He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in March that year.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27congreve%27%29| title= Library and Archive Catalogue| publisher= [[Royal Society]]| access-date= 23 December 2010}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  He was also awarded the [[Order of St. George]] following the [[Battle of Leipzig]] in 1813<ref name=odnb1 /> and 1816 he was made [[Royal Guelphic Order|Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order (KCH)]].<ref name=odnb2>{{cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 12|page=942}}</ref> In 1821 he was awarded the [[Order of the Sword]] by the King of Sweden.<ref name=odnb2 />

He enjoyed the friendship of the [[George IV|Prince Regent]], in whose household he served as an equerry from 1811, carrying on the service when the Prince, who supported his rocket projects, became King George IV in 1820.<ref name=odnb1 />

Earlier in 1812 he offered to contest for Parliament the borough of [[Liverpool (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool]] but withdrew before polling for lack of support. He entered Parliament later that year when he was nominated as MP for the [[rotten borough]] of [[Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Gatton]] in 1812, but withdrew at the next elections in 1814 in favour of the son of the borough's proprietor Sir Mark Wood.<ref name=odnb1 /> In 1818 he was returned as Member for [[Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Plymouth]], a seat he held until his death.<ref name=odnb2 />

===Marriage and family===
After fathering several illegitimate children with different mothers,<ref name="dual">Congreve's Dual Life: Paternity, Patronage, and the Paradox of the Second Baronet (1772–1828)</ref> Congreve married in late 1824 at Wessel, [[Prussia]], Isabella Charlotte Carvalho, a young widow of Portuguese descent who had been raised in a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] family.<ref name="dual"/> She was the widow of Henry Nisbitt McEvoy, an Irish surgeon, and brought her young son Charles Henry McEvoy (1815–1837) into the household.<ref name="dual"/> The marriage took place five years before the [[Catholic Emancipation|Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], which removed most remaining restrictions on Catholics in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=odnb2 />

Congreve was 52 and Isabella was 24 at the time of their marriage.<ref name="dual"/> They had three children: [[Sir William Augustus Congreve, 3rd Baronet|Sir William Augustus Congreve]] (1825–1887), who inherited the baronetcy as the 3rd Baronet; Isabella Maria Louisa Christina (1826–1907); and William Frederick Congreve (1827 or 1828–1860).<ref name="dual"/> 

Around 1825–1826, Congreve likely commissioned [[Highcombe House]] in [[Charlton, London|Charlton]], a Regency villa where he resided from c.1826 until shortly before his death in 1828.<ref name="Highcombe">{{cite web |last1=Bone |first1=Peter |title=Charlton history: The story of High Combe |url=https://charltonchampion.co.uk/2013/08/28/charlton-history-the-story-of-high-combe/ |access-date=26 August 2025 |work=Charlton Champion |date=28 August 2013}}</ref> Charlton thus bookended Congreve's life: his childhood was spent at Eastcombe House in the 1780s, whilst his final years in England were spent at Highcombe. Both residences were situated close to his professional base at the [[Royal Arsenal]] in [[Woolwich]], allowing ready access to the Royal Laboratory and the [[Rotunda, Woolwich|Rotunda]] he had secured for the Repository.

===Business ventures and final years===
In 1824, he became general manager of the [[Imperial Continental Gas Association|English Association for Gas Lighting on the Continent]], a sizeable business producing gas for several cities in mainland Europe, including Berlin.<ref>{{cite journal |title=President's Address |journal=Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society |date=1919 |volume=X |issue=5 |page=407 |url=http://norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Transactions-1918-19-transactionsofno10norf_page_751-888.pdf}}</ref>

In later years, he became a businessman and was chairman of the Equitable Loan Bank, director of the Arigna Iron and Coal Company, the Palladium Insurance Company and the Peruvian Mining Company. After a major fraud case began against him in 1826 in connection with the Arigna company, he fled to France, where he was taken seriously ill. He was prosecuted in his absence, the [[Lord Chancellor of England|Lord Chancellor]] ultimately ruling, just before Congreve's death, that the transaction was "clearly fraudulent" and designed to profit Congreve and others.<ref name=odnb2 />

He died in [[Toulouse]], France, in May 1828, aged 55, and was buried there in the Protestant and Jewish cemetery of Chemin du Béarnais.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/anami_0003-4398_1969_num_81_94_4628|doi=10.3406/anami.1969.4628|title=II. Les anciens cimetières protestants toulousains|year=1969|last1=Romane-Musculus|first1=Paul|journal=Annales du Midi|volume=81|issue=94|pages=454–463}}</ref> Isabella was widowed at age 28 with three young children and her teenage stepson. She was granted a £400 [[Civil List]] pension and actively pursued compensation from the British government for her late husband's rocket inventions.<ref name="dual"/> In 1835, she married for the third time to Charles Fenton Whiting.<ref name="dual"/> Isabella died in [[Brighton]] on 5 November 1872, aged 72, having outlived Congreve by 44 years.<ref name="dual"/>

[[File:Congreve matchbox.jpg|thumb|A [[tin]] "Congreaves" matchbox (1827)]]
Congreve's name was used for a kind of friction [[match]], "Congreaves", though he was not involved in their invention or production.<ref>{{cite journal |title=President's Address |journal=Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society |date=1919 |volume=X |issue=5 |page=407 |url=http://norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Transactions-1918-19-transactionsofno10norf_page_751-888.pdf}}</ref>

==Congreve Rockets==
{{main|Congreve rocket}}
[[File:William Congreve in 1807.png|thumb|Portrait of William Congreve with a background scene of rocket fire during the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|British bombardment of Copenhagen]], painted by [[James Lonsdale (painter)|James Lonsdale]] in 1807]]
[[File:Congreve rocket img 2950.jpg|thumb|Tip of a Congreve rocket from the Napoleonic Wars, on display at Paris Naval Museum]]

[[Mysorean rockets]] were the first [[iron]]-cased rockets that were successfully deployed for military use. [[Hyder Ali]], the 18th century ruler of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]] and his son and successor [[Tipu Sultan]] used them against the [[Presidency armies|forces]] of the [[East India Company]] during the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]], beginning in 1780 with the [[Battle of Pollilur (1780)|Battle of Pollilur]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Tipu's missile launch pad in shambles|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/23/stories/2005062310360300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001030520/http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/23/stories/2005062310360300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 October 2007|access-date=16 December 2011|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=23 June 2005|location=Karnataka, India}}</ref> In battles at [[Seringapatam]] in [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)|1792]] and [[Battle of Seringapatam|1799]] these rockets were used with minimal effect against the British.<ref name=r&ms>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357360/rocket-and-missile-system/|title=Rocket and missile system|author1=Frederick C. Durant III |author2=Stephen Oliver Fought |author3=John F. Guilmartin, Jr. |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=19 December 2011}}</ref>

The experiences of the British with Mysorean rockets, mentioned in Munro's book of 1789,<ref>Baker D (1978)
''The Rocket'', New Cavendish Books, London</ref> eventually led to the [[Royal Arsenal]] beginning a military rocket [[R&D]] program in 1801. Several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain for analysis. The development was chiefly the work of William Congreve, who set up a research and development programme at the [[Royal Arsenal|Woolwich Arsenal]]'s laboratory. After development work was complete the rockets were manufactured in quantity further north, near [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills|Waltham Abbey, Essex]]. He was told that "the British at Seringapatam had suffered more from the rockets than from the shells or any other weapon used by the enemy."<ref>Von Braun W, Ordway III F. I. ''History of rocketry and space travel'', Nelson</ref> "In at least one instance", an eyewitness told Congreve, "a single rocket had killed three men and badly wounded others."<ref>Ley E (1958). ''Rockets, missiles, and space travel'', Chapman & Hall, London</ref>

It has been suggested that Congreve may have adapted [[iron]]-cased [[gunpowder]] rockets for use by the British military from prototypes created by the Irish nationalist [[Robert Emmet]] during Emmet's Rebellion in 1803.<ref>Patrick M. Geoghegan (2003) ''Robert Emmet: a life'', p. 107, McGill-Queens University Press, Canada</ref> But this seems far less likely given the fact that the British had been exposed to Indian rockets since 1780 at the latest, and that a vast quantity of unused rockets and their construction equipment fell into British hands at the end of the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] in 1799, 4 years before Emmet's rockets.

[[File:Plate 11. The Throwing of Rockets from Men of War Boats.jpg|thumb|"Use of rockets from boats" – An illustration from William Congreve's book demonstrating naval deployment methods]]

Congreve began in 1804 by buying the best rockets on the London market, but found that their greatest range was only 600 yards. After spending several hundred pounds of his own money on experiments, he was able to make a rocket that would travel 1,500 yards. He then applied to Lord Chatham, the responsible minister in charge of the Ordnance Department, for permission to have some large rockets made at Woolwich. Permission was granted and several six-pounder rockets made on principles he had previously ascertained achieved a range of full two thousand yards. By the spring of 1806, he was producing 32-pounder rockets ranging 3,000 yards.

Congreve first demonstrated solid fuel rockets at the Royal Arsenal in 1805. He considered his work sufficiently advanced to engage in two [[Royal Navy]] attacks on the French fleet at [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne, France]], one that year and one the next. In 1807 Congreve and sixteen Ordnance Department civilian employees were present at the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Bombardment of Copenhagen]], during which 300 rockets contributed to the conflagration of the city.<ref>The First Golden Age of Rocketry, p. 21</ref>

[[File:Leipzig, 32-pounder Congreve rocket.jpg|thumb|upright|32-pounder rocket {{circa}}1813, showing the scale and construction of the medium-range battlefield rockets]]

Congreve rockets were successfully used for the remainder of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], with the most important employment of the weapon being at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. In the [[Battle of the Göhrde|Battle of Göhrde]] and at Leipzig, rockets fired from ground-mounted troughs at low trajectory proved fearsome weapons at close range. The "rockets' red glare" in the [[The Star-Spangled Banner|American national anthem]] describes their firing at [[Fort McHenry]] during the [[War of 1812]]. In January 1814 the Royal Artillery absorbed the various companies armed with rockets into two Rocket Troops within the [[Royal Horse Artillery]]. They remained in the arsenal of the United Kingdom until the 1850s.

[[File:Congreve rockets.gif|thumb|Congreve rockets from Congreve's original work]]

==Other inventions==
Besides his rockets, Congreve was a prolific (if indifferently successful) [[inventor]] for the remainder of his life. He registered 18 [[patent]]s, of which 2 were for rockets. 

Congreve invented a [[gun]]-[[recoil]] mounting, a [[time bomb|time]]-[[Fuse (explosives)|fuze]], and a rocket [[parachute]] attachment. In 1813, he patented a [[Canal lock#Hydro-pneumatic canal lift|hydropneumatic canal lock]], which was installed at [[Camden Lock|Hampstead Road Lock]] in north London.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sir William Congreve's Hydro-pneumatic Lock|journal=[[The New Monthly Magazine]]|date=1 August 1815|volume=4|issue=19|pages=116–120}}</ref> This lock used compressed air and water pressure to raise and lower canal boats more efficiently than traditional lock mechanisms, representing one of his more successful practical engineering achievements. He also invented an improved [[sluice]] design in 1813.

In 1821, Congreve developed a process of [[colour printing]] which was widely used in [[Germany]]. He invented a new form of [[steam engine]] and a method of consuming [[smoke]] which was applied at the [[Royal Arsenal|Royal Laboratory]] at Woolwich. He also took out patents for a [[Congreve clock|clock]] in which time was measured by a [[ball]] rolling along a [[zigzag|zig-zag]] track on an [[inclined plane]]; for protecting [[building]]s against [[fire]]; inlaying and combining [[metal]]s; un[[forgery|forge]]able [[bank note]] [[paper]] to prevent counterfeiting; a method of killing [[whale]]s by means of rockets (successfully tested in practice in 1821 aboard the whaling vessel {{ship||Fame|1786 ship|2}}, which Congreve equipped at his own expense, with Captain Scoresby reporting successful trials from the Greenland fishery); improvements in the manufacture of [[gunpowder]]; [[Stereotype (printing)|stereotype plate]]s for printing; [[firework]]s; and [[gas meter]]s.

Congreve's unsuccessful [[perpetual motion machine|perpetual motion scheme]] involved an endless band which should raise more water by its [[capillary action]] on one side than on the other. He used capillary action of fluids that would disobey the law of never rising above their own level, so to produce a continual ascent and overflow. The device had an inclined plane over [[pulley]]s. At the top and bottom, there travelled an endless band of [[sponge]], a bed, and, over this, again an endless band of heavy [[weight]]s jointed together. The whole stood over the surface of still [[water]]. The capillary action raised the water, whereas the same thing could not happen in the part, since the weights would squeeze the water out. Hence, it was heavier than the other; but as "we know that if it were the same weight, there would be [[mechanical equilibrium|equilibrium]], if the heavy chain be also [[uniform]]". Therefore, the extra weight of it would cause the chain to move round in the direction of the arrow, and this would go on, supposedly, continually.<ref>{{cite web |title=Perpetual Motion |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/perpetual-motion-1911-11-18/ |website=scientificamerican.com |date=18 November 1911 |access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>

== Legacy ==

[[file:Congreve Rocket Patch 1832.jpg|thumb|Congreve rocket patch from the Portugal campaign, 1832–33, which belonged to [[Christopher Brandon, Superintendent of Police, Dartford]]. This patch was flown into Earth orbit by [[Jared Isaacman]], commander of the SpaceX [[Polaris Dawn]] spaceflight in September 2024]]

Congreve's work represented a pivotal moment in the history of rocketry, transforming rockets from curiosities and fireworks into practical military weapons. By adapting and systematising the iron-cased rocket technology pioneered in Mysore, he created the first Western rocket artillery system that could be manufactured at scale and deployed effectively on the battlefield. His rockets remained in regular use until the 1850s, when they were superseded by the improved spinning design by [[William Hale (British inventor)#Rocketry|William Hale]]. The principles Congreve established—solid fuel propulsion, standardised calibres, and systematic deployment methods—influenced rocket development throughout the 19th century and laid conceptual groundwork for later advances in rocketry.

Beyond military applications, Congreve's rockets found humanitarian use. In the 1870s, they were employed to carry rescue lines to [[ship|vessels]] in distress, gradually superseding earlier systems. His rockets also achieved lasting cultural resonance: the "rockets' red glare" in the [[The Star-Spangled Banner|American national anthem]] immortalised their use at [[Fort McHenry]] during the [[War of 1812]], ensuring that Congreve's invention would be remembered in one of the world's most widely performed pieces of music.

In a striking demonstration of the enduring significance of early rocketry to modern spaceflight, a historical Congreve rocket patch from the Portugal campaign of 1832–33 was flown into Earth orbit by [[Jared Isaacman]], commander of the SpaceX [[Polaris Dawn]] spaceflight in September 2024. This symbolic gesture connected Congreve's pioneering 19th-century work—itself built upon Mysorean innovation—with contemporary space exploration, tracing an unbroken line of development from the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars to orbital spaceflight two centuries later.

==Publications==

*''A Concise account of the origin and progress of the rocket system'' (1804) 
*''A Concise Account of the Origin and Progress of the Rocket System'' (1807) <ref>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Congreve, William (1772-1828)|display=Congreve, William (1772–1828)}}</ref> 
*''The details of the rocket system'' (1814)
*''The Congreve Rocket System'' (1827, London) 
*''An Elementary Treatise on the Mounting of Naval Ordnance'' (1812) 
*''A Description of the Hydropneumatical Lock'' (1815)
*''A New Principle of Steam-Engine'' (1819)
*''Resumption of Cash Payments'' (1819) 
*''Systems of Currency'' (1819)

==See also==
*[[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]]
*[[Rotunda, Woolwich]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Congreve, Sir William |volume=6 |pages=939–940}}
* {{cite report|url=http://www.waterlooassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Woolwich-Rotunda-Research-Report-FIN-small-pdf.pdf|title=The Rotunda (former Royal Artillery Museum), Woolwich Common, London Borough of Greenwich: History, Structure and Landscape|author1=Emily Cole|author2=Susan Skedd|author3=Jonathan Clarke|author4=Sarah Newsome|publisher=Historic England|id=251-2020|date=2020}}
* [[James Earle]] "Commodore Squib: The Life, Times and Secretive Wars of England's First Rocket Man, Sir William Congreve, 1772–1828" (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010), 270p., illus. {{ISBN|1-4438-1770-8}}
* [[Frank H. Winter]] ''The First Golden Age of Rocketry'' (Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990), 322p., illus. {{ISBN|0-87474-987-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons|William Congreve}}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-congreve | Sir William Congreve }}
*[http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/British_artillery.htm Royal Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars]

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{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Plymouth]]
 | with = [[Sir Charles Pole, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Pole]] (1818)<br />with [[Thomas Byam Martin|Sir Thomas Byam Martin]] (1818–1828)| before=[[Benjamin Bloomfield, 1st Baron Bloomfield|Benjamin Bloomfield]]<br />[[Sir Charles Pole, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Pole]] | after= [[Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet|Sir George Cockburn]]<br />[[Thomas Byam Martin|Sir Thomas Byam Martin]] | years=1818–1828}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet|William Congreve]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Congreve baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Walton)''' | years=1814–1828}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir William Augustus Congreve, 3rd Baronet|William Augustus Congreve]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Congreve, William}}
[[Category:1772 births]]
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[[Category:Military personnel from Kent]]
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[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:Early rocketry]]
[[Category:British rocket scientists]]
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